


The Difference Between Killing and Destroying

by Spaghettisaurus_Rex



Category: DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-05-05
Packaged: 2018-05-23 21:27:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6130630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spaghettisaurus_Rex/pseuds/Spaghettisaurus_Rex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A three-part series in which the Outlaws have one hell of a bad night. Post Death of the Family.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Jason

**Author's Note:**

> I took some liberties with descriptions of costume designs (look, unless you're using a release, fingerless gloves are a terrible idea for archery) and minor details.
> 
> Major trigger warning for violence, drug mentions, and physical/psychological torture.

It was dark, Jason knew that for sure. He thought he might have heard a dripping sound in the distance, and it smelled like dirty river water. All the details he could put together implied he was in a sewer of some sort, but he couldn’t remember anything about how he’d gotten there. He felt like it had something to do with Kory, but the feeling was far from concrete.

The darkness itself wasn’t so bad. However, he could sense that the space he was in was extremely small, and he’d kinda had a thing about extremely small spaces ever since clawing his way out of his own coffin. Feeling around with his hands, he came into contact with four completely smooth, completely solid walls. Feeling a little stupid, he put his hands up and waved, feeling for a ceiling. Nothing. He jumped. Same results.

_Well_ , he thought with some resignation, _at least it isn’t actually a grave_.

Suddenly, the room was flooded with harsh, bright light. Jason blinked away the spots dancing in front of his eyes, and noticed two things right away. First, whatever he was standing in was completely clear. So much so, he had to touch the walls again to make sure they were still there. Second, and the more urgent of the two, there was a body on the floor.

The person’s face was turned to the left, facing away from Jason, but there was no doubt about who it could be. His long, ginger hair was splayed around his head and the faded, blue baseball cap that usually covered it lay discarded on the floor a few feet from its owner. A tattoo of a green snake wrapped around his right bicep. The costume he wore was bright red, from the archery gloves that only covered his middle, pointer, and ring fingers all the way to his boots. It was Roy.

Jason slammed the barrier in front of him, trying to get it to give way.

“ _ROY!_ ” he shouted, pounding it with his fists. He wasn’t sure whether Roy was dead or unconscious, but he couldn’t just stand there doing nothing, whether it was too late or not. Then he saw it: a long smear of blood across the floor, like a body had been dragged somewhere, but it didn’t end at Roy’s prone form. Rather, it started a few feet away from him and led somewhere else. Jason followed the trail with his eyes, already certain of what he’d find.

A pair of purple boots were the only part of Kory that was visible behind a pile of crates, but it was enough. There was blood splattered everywhere, more than enough to make Jason certain the Tamaranean was already dead.

“ _Kory_ ,” he whispered, leaning against the barrier for support. He was alive and his only friends weren’t, whatever had happened must have been his fault. He closed his eyes, hoping whatever had killed Roy and Kory would come back so he could rip it apart with his bare hands.

“Well, well,” came an eerie and all too familiar voice. Jason’s eyes flew open, but no one was there. “Jason Todd, the last man standing!”

The Joker stepped out of the shadows, his arms spread wide, his rotting face held in a permanent maniacal grin. There were bloodstains on the dirty workboots and coveralls he wore. He crouched down beside Roy. The archer twitched. Despite the panic gripping Jason, he felt a split second of relief as well. Roy was still alive, he could still be saved, if Jason could figure out how to escape.

“This is going to be sooo much fun!” The Joker cackled, running a gloved finger down Roy’s chest. Roy groaned weakly, shaking his head.

Jason burned with rage.

“Leave him alone, or I swear, I _will_ kill you. Hell, I’ll probably kill you anyway, but I’ll make it hurt way more if you kill him.”

He pounded against the barrier as he spoke, trying like hell to get between what was left of his friends and the monster who killed him. It didn’t budge.

The Joker paused, his finger still resting on Roy’s midsection. Then, surprisingly, he stood up.

“Of course I wasn’t going to hurt your little pal, Jason!” he said, walking around Roy toward where Jason stood. “After all, it’s always about _you_ , isn’t it?”

Their faces were inches from each other now. Flies buzzed around the Joker’s peeling face, and Jason had to fight the urge to gag at the stench of rotting flesh.

“So this is the part where you try to kill me, then?” he asked almost coolly, staring into his enemy’s crazed eyes.

The Joker shook his head. “Oh no, dear boy, not _kill_ you. This is the part where I _destroy_ you!”

He burst into laughter.

“You killed me once, and I’m still standing. Hell,” he gestured across the room. Something nagged at him, a small detail he seemed to be forgetting, but he ignored it, “you murdered Kory and I’m still standing. You think adding one more body to the pile is gonna change anything? Good fucking luck.”

He was bluffing, of course. He carried the weight of everyone who’d died because of him every second of every day. Even Sheila, and she’d betrayed him in the first place. Kory’s death was already pressing against his chest like a lead weight.

“Now that’s just not fair, birdbrain,” the Joker pouted, crossing his arms, “I didn’t do a thing to Starfire!” He wagged a finger at Jason. “Credit where credit is due.” 

“Then who did? Your imaginary friend?”

“No,” a new voice said, “I did.”

From behind the stack of crates, another person emerged. He was clad in thick Kevlar body armor, a leather jacket, and heavy boots. The armor was completely black, save for an angular, stylized red bat symbol on the chest. The man’s blue-green eyes looked too old for his face, which couldn’t have been much more than twenty-one at most, and a stark white streak stood out in his thick black hair. There was a bloody crowbar casually swinging from his gloved right hand.

Jason stared at the mirror image of himself. That’s what had been off before, he realized. The Joker had been unarmed. The other Jason grinned at him and waved.

“Enjoying the view?” he asked casually.

Jason didn’t answer, and tore his eyes away from his counterpart to look at the Joker, who watched the silent exchange with barely contained glee.

“What the hell is this?” Jason snarled.

“What? Haven’t you looked in a mirror lately?” The Joker paused mid-taunt to give Jason a disdainful once-over. “Hmm, maybe not.”

He and the other Jason both laughed at the dig. The original Jason fumed.

“Obviously, I’m you,” the second Jason cast a quick glance at Roy before putting air quotes around his last word, “’Jaybird.’”

Jason lunged at his double, smacking painfully into the barrier. “Shut up!”

“Okay, maybe I should rephrase that,” the second Jason said with some consideration. “I’m the new and improved you. Jason Todd, sans all the bitchy, sentimental bullshit that used to make him so weak! I mean, look at yourself! When you watched me kill Kory, you screamed at me until you passed out and apparently forgot everything that just happened. Pathetic.”

“You’re not me.” Jason shook his head, trying to process what was happening. “You may look like me, but you’re just some cheap imitation. I would _never_ reduce myself to working with _that_ ,” he spat, pointing at the Joker.

“Who? Lil’ ol’ me?” The Joker pressed his hands to his chest in mock offense. “Hurtful, Jason. Very hurtful.”

“Shut up.”

“Aww, turn that frown upside down, kiddo! We’ve only gotten started! We’re going to have so much more fun together!”

Jason pointedly ignored him. Instead, he focused his anger back on his double.

“How can you work with him?” he asked. “Don’t you remember what he did to you?”

The other Jason held up his crowbar and waved it indicatively. “Of course I do. He made us stronger.”

“Bullshit!”

The other Jason almost seemed surprised by this reaction. “Really? Don’t you remember who we were before? An obnoxious fifteen year old, freezing to death in the shadow of the Bat? He only saw us as a replacement for his favorite, you know that. Just some stupid dark-haired, blue eyed kid he could stick in Dick’s place to maybe try and forget that his golden boy son didn’t need him anymore. Batman is a selfish prick and he never loved us. And it took him letting us die for us to become our own person.”

“You know I don’t believe that anymore,” Jason said, shaking his head.

“Looks like I’m less stupid than you, too,” the other Jason replied. His grip on the crowbar tightened. “Have you forgotten that we don’t need anyone? You’re getting soft. But I’m prepared to fix that.”

Jason was pretty sure he knew what would happen next and felt his stomach twist.

“Don’t,” he said forcefully, but his double was already walking towards where Roy lay.

“By the way, Bruce and Ollie are on their way,” he called over his shoulder. He said it as casually as though he were discussing the weather. “Now that’s a teamup that never gets old! I’m pretty sure those two hate each other. But even if they do manage to get along,” he was standing over Roy now, deciding something, “they won’t make it in time. Wakey wakey, Arsenal!” He kicked Roy in the ribs. “You don’t wanna miss this!”

“ _Don’t!_ ” Jason repeated.

Roy stirred, turning his head to look plaintively at Jason. His green eyes were wide behind the strings of sweaty ginger hair falling into his face, and his chest heaved as he struggled to breathe.

“Jaybird,” he whispered, “help.”

The Joker was nearly bouncing with glee as the first swing of Jason 2.0’s crowbar collided with Roy’s ribs. Roy cried out in pain, writhing on the floor as the second swing of the crowbar cracked across one of his knees. Jason’s fevered hammering against the barrier increased.

“ _Stop!_ ” he yelled as his double and the Joker laughed.

A third swing of the crowbar broke Roy’s collarbone.

“ _JASON, PLEASE!_ ” he screamed, “ _DON’T JUST STAND THERE!_ ”

“I’m trying!” Jason yelled back, his desperation growing.

The fourth and fifth hits ripped gashes in Roy’s body armor. The sixth smashed one of his hands.

“ _Why won’t you do anything_?” His voice was growing weaker.

“I’m trying!” Jason repeated, but he could feel his stamina decreasing. What if he couldn’t do anything in time?

The other Jason, however, only seemed to be picking up steam. His blows became more rapid, blood flowing from his victim in increasing amounts. Roy shuddered, blood spilling from his mouth. He didn’t have long.

Jason’s chest felt so tight he could barely breathe as he continued pounding the barrier and yelling. He knew there was nothing he could do, but he had to do it anyway. He had to try.  
He yelled until his throat burned and his mouth dried out. Roy’s cries grew weaker and weaker.

“Roy,” Jason rasped, his voice feeling like knives in his throat, “I’m sorry.”

The archer didn’t move. The other Jason paused his assault. With the toe of his boot, he nudged Roy’s chin. His head flopped lifelessly to the side, giving Jason the full view of his battered face. His eyes were glassy and devoid of anything resembling life.

Wordlessly, his face completely impassive, the other Jason knelt down beside Roy, set the crowbar aside on the floor, and pressed two fingers to either side of Roy’s throat, right below his jawbone. After a few seconds, he nodded.

“It’s about damn time,” he said to himself, grabbing the crowbar and standing up. “Should’ve drugged him harder than Kory.”

“You _what_?” Jason’s voice was barely above a whisper, but it was dangerous nonetheless. The others had never even had a fighting chance. Did Roy and Kory know they’d been drugged, or had they not realized what was happening? They had to have, considering ordinary sedatives wouldn’t be effective on Kory’s alien physiology. Had Roy’s last moments been filled with memories of the lowest points of his life?

Suddenly, an image forced its way into his subconscious: Ollie discovering Roy’s body, covered in drying blood and lying far too still, but still hoping against hope there was a chance. He’d check frantically for a pulse, already knowing he wouldn’t find one. Would he carry Roy’s body out on his own, feeling the weight of the son he couldn’t save against his chest every step of the way? Or would he ask Bruce to do it instead, volunteering to carry Kory so he was less likely to break down?

The other Jason ignored the question and approached his twin.

“Originally,” he said, “we were going to let you live. You seeing Ollie’s face when he realized you got his son killed would’ve been the icing on the cake of this whole endeavor. But then,” he circled Jason like a hungry shark, “I had a better idea. You and I always did want to destroy Bruce for not avenging us, right? What better way to do that than dying the same way twice in a row, him arriving too late to save us both times? I mean, damn, that’d have to suck! Tell me, now that he knows resurrection is possible, do you think he’ll try to bring you back? Or do you think he’ll be too scared of what might happen?”

The Joker clapped his hands and wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. “I feel so proud!” he crowed.

The real Jason smirked.

“If you wanna kill me,” he said as evenly as he could, and then knocked on the barrier, “you’re gonna have to let me out. And you might have the advantage weapon-wise, but I happen to be pissed,” he was full-on smiling now, “and I think we both know what I’m like when I’m pissed. Or at least, I hope you do.”

“Ooh,” the Joker pressed a hand to his mouth, “somebody get me some popcorn!”

Both Jasons ignored him. The double shrugged.

“I guess that’s a chance I’m just gonna have to take,” he said, and raised his weapon, Roy and Kory’s blood still glistening on it.

With a single swing of the crowbar, the invisible barrier shattered with a sound like an entire building’s worth of windows breaking. Invisible shards of whatever it had been made of rained down on Jason, cutting and scratching every bit of exposed skin they touched.

Recovering quickly, he dodged a second crowbar strike and launched himself at the other Jason, then felt a sudden jolt through his entire body. His eyes flew open, and he was staring at a white plaster ceiling, an itchy carpet beneath him.

He sat up slowly, and unpeeled sweat-drenched white sheets from his body. He was eye level with the foot of a bed, where Roy and Kory were both asleep, Roy snoring obnoxiously.

He ran a shaky hand through his sweaty hair, grounded once again in reality. He never thought he’d be so happy to be in a shitty no-tell motel with a busted air conditioner.

_Just a dream_ , he thought. _Just your average, run of the mill nightmare._

He lay back down on his makeshift floor bed, then abruptly sat back up again. Searching by feel through the tray of coffee supplies, he located and grabbed a plastic-wrapped paper cup. He tested its weight a few times in his hand, then hurled it at Roy and watched it bounce harmlessly off his friend’s forehead.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again, asshole,” Jason whispered affectionately. Roy groaned and flipped over without waking up. Jason pointed at Kory. “You either, okay?”

With that, he flopped back onto his pillow and completely failed to go back to sleep.


	2. Roy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably should've mentioned this before, but I do this thing where I combine New 52 continuity with preboot continuity, so all the references to Roy's family (his dad, Lian, Brave Bow, etc.) and the Outsiders are not based on Red Hood and the Outlaws canon. My apologies for any confusion! "How Long Can I Go Without Making An Outsiders Reference?" is almost a game to me at this point.
> 
> Major trigger warnings for violence, psychological torture, death, and suicidal thoughts. I don't think this chapter has drug references, but if I forget to mention a trigger, please tell me!

_Swish, spit, repeat._

Roy took a moment to think about how remarkably weird the fairly mundane act of brushing his teeth in the bathroom of a junked-out spaceship on the beach of a deserted island actually was. In a way, it kind of reminded him of tooling around in the _Pequod_ back in the good old Outsiders days. Especially when he and Grace Choi would sneak off after missions to the back of the ship and…

He wondered where Grace and the others were nowadays. Were Grace and Anissa still together? He considered asking Dick sometime, but realized Dick probably knew even less than he did about the now defunct team. Even at best, Dick’s heart had never really been in it.

As he looked down to stow his toothbrush under the sink, one of the bullet scars on his chest caught his eye. He brushed it lightly with his fingertips, and felt his pulse quicken fractionally. Okay, so maybe his Outsiders days hadn’t been all fun and games, and the five healed bullet holes in his torso were a constant reminder of that. Quickly, he grabbed his shirt off the floor and yanked it over his head.

At that exact moment, there was a loud bang and the bathroom door burst inward, catching Roy across the face. His hand flew to his cheekbone and for a moment he only stared at the intruder. For a moment the intruder, a young Quraci soldier with a rather impressive looking rifle, only stared back. Roy slowly lowered his hand and the soldier leveled his rifle with Roy’s chest.

“I’ve located the American interloper!” he shouted, briefly glancing away from Roy, toward whoever he’d come with.

His next statement was aimed directly at Roy. “Move and you die, Roy Harper.”

His initial shock worn off, Roy shrugged casually. “From the look of it, I die no matter what. That sound about right?”

Instead of waiting for the soldier to formulate a response, he ducked forward, shoved the barrel of the gun upward where a single shot ripped harmlessly through the ceiling, and shoved an elbow into his adversary’s throat. They stumbled backward into the hallway, where the soldier’s head cracked loudly against the wall, and Roy took his chance to sprint for the exit.

Another soldier rounded the corner in front of him, and Roy froze. He backed away slowly, really regretting not taking the first soldier’s gun when he had the chance, and smacked straight into another soldier. He cried out as a hood was yanked over his head and he was thrown to the floor, his knees smacking hard against the metal. Someone roughly yanked his arms behind him and handcuffed him, then quickly emptied his pockets, pulling out a screwdriver, a set of allen wrenches, a lighter, and a small pocket knife.

Roy’s thoughts raced almost as fast as his heart.

  
_How did they find me here? Is this how I die after all, just in the Caribbean instead of Qurac? Where are Kory and Jason?_

He went rigid. He hadn’t heard any sounds of a struggle, and there was no way those two would go down without a fight. They may not have even been on board. But what if they’d been taken by surprise? Up until now, only a handful of people knew the location of the Outlaws’ hideout. None of them would’ve thought the Quracis would find it.

“On your feet, boy!” one of the soldiers shouted at him, yanking him off his knees. The soldier prodded Roy in the small of the back with his gun. “Walk!”

Stumbling forward, Roy couldn’t help but think he might be walking past the bodies of his friends at any moment without even knowing it. His stomach practically turned cartwheels. Dying he could handle, but getting other people killed was almost enough to tear him apart.

_No_ , he thought, _not almost_.

“ _Lian_ ,” he whispered to himself. His daughter’s death was what knocked him back off the wagon in the first place, and now he was finally getting what he deserved.

_At least when I’m dead, I’ll finally get to see her again._

He thought about her laughter and her smile, and how he’d promised he’d always be there for her. He thought about how badly he’d let her down, and the part of him that’d wanted to die all along seemed to grow louder in his head. Maybe she would forgive him for not protecting her. Or maybe she’d hate him, and rightly so, but at that point it didn’t really matter.

_I’m going to see Lian again, I’m going to see Lian again, I’mgoingtoseeLianagain_ , became his silent mantra as he walked, no longer afraid. _If they make it out alive, Kory and Jason won’t need me. They’ll be okay without me, just like they’ve always been._

As he stepped outside and felt sunlight on his skin for what would be the last time, he was almost at peace. He thought about his dad, and how he would finally get to know the hero that Brave Bow had spoken so highly of. He wondered if he’d see his mom, too. He almost laughed at the irony of being excited to die so he could finally meet the people who’d given him life.

“Stop.” He felt one of the soldiers grab his shoulder. “On your knees.”

For the second time that day, he was shoved to the ground. The warm sand cushioned the blow better than the metal floor inside had, but he still sucked in a breath when he landed. Despite not being able to see anything, he squeezed his eyes shut and waited for one of his captors to put a bullet through his head.

_Please don’t let it hurt too much._

_Oh, who even gives a shit at this point?_

But instead of shooting him, one of the soldiers yanked the hood off his head. Roy’s eyes flew open in surprise. On the ground in front of him lay his bow and a single arrow, tipped with a razor sharp broadhead.

He looked up to ask what was happening, and froze with his mouth still halfway open. Just up the beach, Kory and Jason, or at least two people dressed like them, were kneeling in the sand, handcuffed and hooded the way Roy had just been, with a gun-wielding Quraci soldier standing behind each of them, and inhibitor collars around their necks.

“What is this?” he asked, not looking away from his friends.

The leader of the soldiers, a man Roy recognized as the same soldier who’d orchestrated his original capture back in Qurac, planted himself in front of Roy, gazing mockingly down at him.

“You have a decision to make, Roy Harper,” he said. He gestured behind himself toward Kory and Jason. “My sources tell me that those two costumed infidels were responsible for your escape in Qurac, and are to be executed alongside you for their insolence.”

_This can’t be happening_ , Roy thought.

“However,” the leader continued, “you may choose to save one of your compatriots. They will be released and, so long as they refrain from interfering in Quraci affairs again, allowed to live. The other dies immediately. All you have to do is shoot one of the gunmen before he shoots the friend you wish to save.”

Roy’s head spun as his handcuffs were removed. He had to think, he needed more time.

“How do I know that’s really them?” he asked, rubbing his wrists.

The leader sighed, but gave his men a signal. Almost in sync, the gunmen removed Kory and Jason’s hoods. It really was them. They were both badly bruised, duct tape covered their mouths, and Jason had a large gash in his forehead, but there was no mistaking them or the angry, defiant looks on their faces.

“Good enough for you?” the leader asked. Numbly, Roy nodded.

“Then choose.”

He said it so simply, as if the choice weren’t impossible. Neither of them deserved to die, but if he was the reason only one of them lived, he’d never be able to forgive himself. Never being the approximately ten seconds he’d have to live after making his decision.

As he shakily pulled himself to his feet, he weighed his options. The one condition that had been given, besides that only one of Roy’s friends could live, was that the sole surviving Outlaw couldn’t retaliate. That immediately ruled out Jason, who’d go after the Quraci soldiers guns-blazing the second they took off his handcuffs, which would defeat the purpose of Roy saving him. There was at least a 75% chance of Kory doing the same thing, but what other choice did he have? Roy made his decision.

As he picked up his single arrow, he could barely look at his friends. He deserved to have them hate him for what he was about to do. He stared at it for a second, one end resting in either of his hands, and thought about just driving it through his own throat, ending things on his own terms. Wouldn’t that just be the ultimate “fuck you” to his captors?

Instead, he wrapped his hands around the arrow and brought it down over his knee, snapping it in half, ignoring the arrow head slicing into his palm. He tossed the broken pieces aside and looked his captor straight in the eye.

“You can’t make me choose,” he said bluntly. He couldn’t see Kory or Jason’s mouths, but it almost looked like they smiled.

The leader laughed, a cold, mirthless sound.

“Very well, boy,” he said. “A foolish choice.”

The soldiers standing behind Roy grabbed his arms and held him in place as two gunshots rang out simultaneously, and Kory and Jason both collapsed into the sand. Roy’s eyes burned as he was handcuffed again and shoved back to his knees. There was no option he could’ve picked that would’ve been ideal, but that didn’t make the choice he did make any better.

He closed his eyes and waited for the end.

And waited.

And waited.

Had it already happened? He felt odd and fuzzy inside.

He cracked his eyes open fractionally, then the rest of the way in shock. He was staring at hideous motel room wallpaper, about to fall off a lumpy motel room bed. He pulled himself back onto the bed and for a second, just stared at Kory sleeping next to him, the soft glow of her hair and the gentle rise and fall of her chest more beautiful than he ever would have thought they could be. He slid out of bed and walked past Jason, sleeping on the floor because he insisted beds felt wrong to him, to the bathroom.

As quietly as he could, he turned on the faucet and splashed water over his face, the coldness of it waking him up and melting the edges of the nightmare until he could feel his breathing return to normal.

Had he really been that okay with dying?

Yes, he decided, but only if no one else got hurt. It wasn’t really that he wanted to die, just that he wouldn’t necessarily mind if he did. It was a weird feeling, but he supposed it was progress from how he’d stated at least.

He turned the faucet off and quietly shuffled back to bed. As he lay back down, he felt something crunch under his head. He sat up.

Feeling around the area of his pillow, he found a plastic-wrapped coffee cup, now slightly squished, laying in the dip between his pillow and Kory’s. He picked it up and stared it for a second, trying to figure out how it had gotten there, before setting it on the nightstand, settling back into bed, and wrapping one arm around Kory. She snuggled up against his chest a little bit, and, still not quite ready to go back to sleep, Roy lay like that for a while, breathing in her warm, familiar scent and listening to her and Jason breathe.

Living wasn’t all bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This did not take nearly as long as I thought it would! Makes me wonder how quickly I'll be able to write the final chapter, since I actually have less to fact check with that one.
> 
> This chapter went through a lot of weird alternate versions before I settled on this one. Most of the other versions had more characters actually appearing (ie. Lian, Ollie, Dick, and sometimes Donna), but since Roy's loved ones basically showed up to get killed off, I decided sticking with just the Outlaws was enough. When you have to "whoa, slow down there, Satan" yourself you kinda know you're going overboard.


	3. Koriand'r

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! Researching it ended up being a lot messier than I thought, and I hated the way I wrote this for a long time. I managed to edit it enough to lose the ick factor, and now I'm okay with it.
> 
> Trigger warnings include death and psychological torture, I think?

Kory was ecstatic. She almost couldn’t believe her eyes, but no matter how many times she pinched herself, there was no denying it: she was _home_. She was back on Tamaran, in the palace where she’d grown up. It was even more beautiful than she’d remembered.

 

She flew down a corridor as if she were a child again, letting her fingers trail along the walls, her feet barely touching the ground. She could hear laughter coming from a room near the end of the corridor, and she flew toward it. She knew it must be her family laughing, together and happy again. It seemed like a lifetime since she’d seen them, and she missed all of them; her father, mother, Ryand’r, and even Komand’r, despite everything Kom had done. Kory was ready to forgive her sister if it only meant she got to see her family whole again.

 

She threw open the door of the room the laughter was coming from and froze, her blood turning to ice. Komand’r was there alright, and she was locked in a passionate embrace with Roy and Jason. Roy was running his fingers through the thick waves of Komand’r’s auburn hair and seemed to be completely at ease. Jason looked like a parody of himself as he nuzzled Komand’r’s neck. Kory felt like she’d been punched in the stomach.

 

Both of Kory’s friends seemed totally enthralled with her younger sister, but at the sound of her intrusion, all three of them looked over at her. A huge grin lit up Kom’s face.

 

“Sister!” she addressed Kory. “So glad you could finally join us! It seems you still know your way around!”

 

“What have you done?” Kory demanded, ignoring her sister’s words. There was no way the Roy and Jason she knew would be cozying up to Kory’s abusive little sister of their own free will.

 

“What do you mean?” Kom asked, feigning innocence, but with a touch of malice creeping into her smile. Roy and Jason stared at Kory with blank smiles on their faces, only seeming to see her with the vaguest hint of recognition.

 

Kory thought of all the awful things she’d endured because of her sister: torture, slavery, and much, much worse. Roy at least was well aware of Komand’r’s true nature. What had she done to her sister’s friends?

 

“Please, Komand’r,” Kory said as evenly as she could manage, deciding she would try the diplomatic approach first, “let them go.”

 

“But can’t you see they’re happy?” Kom asked innocently, batting her eyes.  She gently tipped Jason’s face toward hers with one long finger and kissed him. He grinned and leaned into it, frowning when she pulled away to return her gaze to Kory.

 

If Kory hadn’t been convinced something was wrong before, she knew it for certain now. Jason was never one for large displays of affection, especially not this giggly, mushy, romantic kind. She’d heard him use a word to describe himself once, “demiromantic” or something similar, she thought. He just wasn’t the type of person to act so… promiscuous.

 

And Roy would never cheat on her. Grace had jokingly called him a “man-whore” once or twice, but he wasn’t the _cheating_ type. Yet now he was cozied up with Komand’r as if Kory had never even existed. This was not the Roy she knew and loved. It couldn’t be.

 

“What’s wrong, sister?” Kom purred. “I haven’t hurt your darling human lovers.”

 

She ran her fingers through Roy’s hair. His body language didn’t indicate even a hint of discomfort, only blind devotion. Could he and Jason be acting? Or had Komand’r found a way to brainwash them?

 

“Why are you doing this?” Kory asked. Did her younger sister’s cruelty know no bounds?

 

Kom seemed almost confused by the inquisition.

 

“I’m doing this for you, sister,” she said. “You’ve been away for so long, Koriand’r. If you’re going to be queen, you can’t afford,” she paused for a second to glance at the men whose arms were wrapped around her, puppy-like looks of devotion on their faces, “ _distractions_.”

 

“ _What_?”

 

Kom sighed. “You _have_ returned to claim your throne, have you not?”

 

Was that why she was here? Kory thought it seemed possible. She loved her people dearly, and it would be an honor to lead them once more. But not if it meant her friends became Komand’r’s slaves.

 

Kom continued without waiting for a reply. “The humans cannot remain here if you do. I am eliminating the distraction so you will not have to. You should thank me!”

 

“ _Thank_ you?” Kory exploded. She could feel her starbolts forming around her clenched fists. “I want you as far away from my friends as you are able to go, and even that will never be far enough! I know what you are capable of, Komand’r, and I will not allow you to hurt anyone else!”

 

Kom ignored her and whispered something in Roy’s ear. He turned to look at Kory for a second, turned back to Kom, and nodded. Reluctantly, he stepped away from Komand’r and approached Kory. There was nothing but sincerity in his eyes as he held his hand out to her. He hadn’t said anything, but Kory couldn’t shake the feeling he was about to tell her goodbye. Still, she took his hand and Roy squeezed her hand reassuringly.

 

“Kory,” he said gently, quiet enough that only she could hear, “it’s okay. Komand’r makes me happy.”

 

“How can you say that?” Kory asked, matching his volume but unable to keep the devastation from her voice. “She let the Blight _torture_ you! She _helped_ them!”

 

“Only because she was forced to! She won’t hurt me or Jason, at least not anymore.” Kory caught an unmistakable hint of uncertainty in his voice.

 

“Please, do not leave me. I do not want to do this alone.” Kory was on the verge of tears, but if she could get through to him, they could stop Komand’r together. “You know you don’t love my sister. You _know_ she does not care about you. I care about you. Jason cares about you. Dick, Donna, Wally, Victor, Raven, and Garfield care about you. Oliver and Dinah and Connor and Mia care about you.”

 

Kory saw Roy’s face harden. He was really seeing her now. Still, she let one more name slip between her lips.

 

“Lian cared about you.”

 

Roy’s eyes widened and he sucked in a breath.

 

“What are we doing here?” he asked. “I feel really gross all of a sudden.”

 

Kory almost laughed with relief. Two against two were much better odds than three against one, and figuring out how to save Jason would be easy. Komand’r didn’t have the upper hand anymore.

 

On the edge of her vision, Kory saw a flash of electric blue and smelled burning ozone. She looked up in time to see a starbolt slam into Roy’s back. She screamed his name as his face went slack. Before he could collapse, she caught him and gently lowered him to the floor.

 

Komand’r was laughing, but the sound seemed distant.

 

Kory tried to keep the panic from her voice as she whispered “It’s okay, it’s okay, I will figure this out, you will be okay. Stay with me.”

 

With one hand, she supported his back, with the other she felt for the wound. Burned clothing and flesh met her bare fingers. The bolt Komand’r had hit him with was small, but it was powerful and had ripped almost completely through him.

 

“ _Please_ ,” Kory whispered through her tears, but she knew it was too late.

 

“How could you do this?” she growled at her sister, looking up. But Kom and Jason had both disappeared. The room was completely empty except for Roy’s body and Kory.

 

She pressed her forehead to Roy’s and sobbed until he grew cold in her arms. Then, she lowered him to the floor and set him down gently. A few seconds passed in silence, then she screamed, a long wail that came from her very soul. Roy was dead and Jason had disappeared. Dick was light-years away on Earth. Donna and the other Titans could be anywhere in the Universe, and Kory had no way of contacting them. She was completely alone and stranded. The only thing she felt like she could do was cry, so she did, wrapping her arms around herself in a mock embrace.

 

“Hey,” she heard a soft whisper, “it’s okay, it’s okay, you’re safe, I’ve got you.”

 

She opened her eyes and was met with near-darkness. She realized her arms weren’t the only ones around her and that she was lying down. She flipped over and was face to face with Roy, the _real_ Roy, who was warm and alive and looking at her with concern. She wrapped her arms around him and cried with relief. He rubbed her back gently and whispered “It’s okay, you’re okay,” and variations thereof into her hair.

 

“Bad dream?” he asked quietly when she’d stopped crying.

 

She nodded. “You?”

 

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ll be getting back to sleep any time soon.”

 

“Me neither,” came Jason’s voice from the foot of the bed. Roy and Kory both jumped and looked over to see Jason resting his elbows on the mattress. “Mommy I’m scared can I sleep with you?”

 

Roy sat up. “So, I guess none of us are gonna get back to sleep are we?”

 

Kory and Jason both shook their heads.

 

“Does anybody know if Waffle House is open?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen. I know Kom doesn't have Kilgrave powers, but it works since it's a dream, I think? And demi!Jason is basically canon, so there's that.
> 
> And by the way, I know for a fact Waffle House is open 24/7. Maybe next I'll post a fluff oneshot as an epilogue to this.


End file.
